Observation of the nation

The trip to Bosnia was so intense - I could tell so much more than I can post. Therefore only 2 more posts. The first one is about some general observations I made.
At first, music: A Guy Called Gerald - Humanity

I have only been in the part of the country where most of the Muslims lives. There are many beautiful mosques all over the country but due to the Yugoslavian, atheist times only a few people are still very religious. In the media the population of the country is often divided by the religion but whenever I asked somebody I got the reply that their family has a certain origin but for themselves they often could not tell if they are really part of a religion. This was especially the case for younger people. The religious Muslims I met were very liberal. It was the time of Ramadan and normally they are even not allowed to drink. I asked our bus driver in Mostar and he explained me that he got an exception from his imam that he is allowed to drink and also to eat a bit because he is responsible for many people and needs to be fit enough to drive safe. Others explained me that it is stupid not to drink when there are 40 °C outside and that this cannot be in the sense of Allah. Another one stated that if they would follow Ramadan strictly the whole country would stand still for a month because one cannot really work being hungry and thirsty.
I could visit mosques without problems: I took off the shoes, washed my feet and went in like everybody else. I was surprised to see there women sitting in the same room with men. Due to the talks I had I got the impression that the hardliner Muslims in western Europe would not be welcome in Muslim countries and therefore also not in Bosnia. I met a teacher from Leeds (UK) and he was very surprised to see much less women wearing a headscarf than in the UK. He was also as impressed as I that going to a mosque works like going to a church - nobody asks you if you are religious or not. Besides this, for everybody I talked to it was important that religion is split from the state constitution and law. Maybe I only met liberal Muslims but personally I fully agree with them.

Both just came out of the Ali Pasha's Mosque - a man and a woman!

The Serbian orthodox cathedral.

The catholic cathedral.

Next topic. What do you notice in this image immediately?:

Exactly, there are no timetables and line numbers at the tram stops ;-).

As you might have noticed, architecture is for me an essential part of a city. I already explained why Sarajevo has many different styles and also some modern buildings are very interesting. Taking for example the new bridge over the Miljacka river close to the main university building:

The bridge was designed by students and it was not yet opened for public.

 Another nice example is this building:

A cathedral-like entrance within the nowadays typical glass and steel facade.

A corner of the same building. A great idea to break the otherwise boring facade.

What architecture is for the eyes is food for the mouth. I enjoyed almost everything I tried and I tried to try almost everything. In the old town of Sarajevo you can find most of the specialties. However to get cold and fresh food, one should go to the "Markthalle". This nice building was once built as city hall and therefore one does not expect that it is a market hall. I can recommend to ask there for capsicum filled with cheese. This is very refreshing and not too spicy.

Inside the Markthalle.

Totally off-topic: I like the Flag of BIH: